Swallowing A Planet
by shaping-up-to-be-pretty-ood
Summary: Despite what his wife would tell you, the Doctor does possess some veritable medical skills.


"Stop squirming," the Doctor growled, prodding his wife in the leg with his sonic, a scowl plastered across his face that River obviously found adorable.

"It _tickles_," she insisted belligerently, poking his arm. "Not only has he been kicking my bladder all day long, the sonic is just exciting him!"

"Stop kicking Mummy," he whispered, leaning down to kiss her bare (and quite round) stomach, making her laugh when his fringe brushed against her skin. His hand splayed across her belly and he murmured, "Mummy," again, as if he couldn't believe the woman before him was seven months pregnant with his son, the first son he'd had in centuries.

"You're grinning like an idiot again, dear," River teased, stroking his face with the back of her fingers. "Oh, excuse me, I meant _Daddy." _She was smiling just as wide as he was, he was pleased to notice.

He pulled himself out of his dazed stupor, and smacked his screwdriver against the palm of his hand. "If I get it to the right frequency I should be able to transmit the image from the sonic to the scanner screen. But of course, Sexy's being of _no help-"_ he shouted those words at the console, to be met with a sort of screech from the ship- "so I've got to figure it out myself."

"I don't think he wants to stop kicking me. I think he finds it funny!" River laughed, placing a hand over the peak of her stomach.

The Doctor smirked. "I can feel it too. Your psychic link with him is much stronger, no doubt, the Timelord mother and babe, but I can feel him. A little sort of fluttery feeling in the back of my mind. I _love_ the feeling."

"He loves you too, honey," River sighed happily. "But I'd like to see him. Do you need help with the screwdriver or do you think you can manage something as simple as a ultrasound?"

"There you go _again,_ insulting my numerous and varied skills. I've had children before, I _delivered_ children before. Why do you think they call me the Doctor?"

"I'm sure it isn't for your obstetric knowledge, because I've been sitting on this chair for half an hour. I could've had it done twenty-five minutes ago, and we might have spent that time aruging about what we're to name him." River's eyebrows rose, and he tugged on a curl in response, avoiding her gaze as he focused intently on the sonic, muttering, "Well you're the child of the TARDIS, aren't you? And so is he, for that matter. I've got to work for her help, I'm not just going to be handed it by smiling prettily." His scowl deepened when she laughed at him again, but he didn't break gaze with his screwdriver for several minutes, pushing the button every now and then.  
"Hah!" He finally shouted, making River jump slightly. "I think Sexy gave me a bit of an opening in the psychic interfacing, the screwdriver is now fully integrated into the TARDIS scanner and I should be able to direct the sound waves to you, to him." He gave a delighted little giggle and aimed the sonic at his wife's belly and stared intently at the screen until the picture warbled to life.

"See? I've always told you they don't call me the Doctor for nothing." He grinned. "Look at him. Look at our baby. _Our baby."_

"I can't wait until I can hold him. Do you think he'll be ginger? Or have my father's eyes?"

The Doctor's face fell a bit when he thought of the Ponds, stuck out of their time with no way of seeing their son-in-law again. He hoped River would be able to take the baby to see them with her Vortex Manipulator. "_You_ have your father's eyes, River," he whispered, taking hold of her hand. "You always have, no matter what you looked like. And I don't just mean the color, I mean you have always had old eyes, kind eyes, even while you were murdering me I could see you were so kind. Rory was so kind, and everything you and your mother needed. I hope our son has his eyes." His face brightened a bit, and he laughed, "Not his nose, god forbid, that would be a disaster. And it would be my luck that my son will be ginger."

"I keep telling you, you could make your next regeneration ginger if you concentrate hard enough. You think this dress size was pure luck? Well I suppose what my dress size used to be, having a baby is a lot like carrying a planet in your stomach." She took the sonic from her husband's hand and slipped it back into his pocket, using him as a brace to stand, running her hands down her belly. "And you always did love new planets, didn't you?"

**A/N: This is post-Manhattan and pre-Snowmen for both of them, and their timelines have obviously been straight for the baby. I know I've written Time Baby fics before, but I've only finished and published one, which is not at all like this. And of course I'm still referencing how remarkably similar and gorgeous Alex and Arthur's eyes both are, because it actually opens up a lot of cool fic ideas. You know how some people whine about River not looking like the Ponds, but aside from that being totally irrelevant anyways, they do look similar in a few aspects. Obviously the first incarnation of River was cast to look a lot like Karen, but I think that Alex does look somewhat like Arthur. Apart from the nose, thank goodness.**


End file.
